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  • Mindtree: Success story of one of India’s leading IT and consulting companies

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Mindtree.

    The idea of using a computer started somewhere before the 1950s. Yes, the notion of using computer circuits and numerical calculations began some 80 years ago. All these years, the technological advancements in computing and communications indicate the progress of information technology will continue evolving.

    The innovations of this extent have revolutionised society, with millions of people depending on information technology for every other thing. Thanks to the IT department who make our lives easier with their services and keeping a track of a vast array of data in a secure way possible.

    You will find IT is present in almost every type of enterprise, whether it is the smallest of business, schools, and various other industries and organisations that need the help of IT for the creation, storage, exchanging, and utilising data, conversation, and forms of communication.

    Mindtree is India’s leading multinational information technology services and consulting company. The company is a part of the Larsen & Toubro Group, which was founded in 1999. Mindtree engages in the services of e-commerce, mobile application, cloud computing, data analytics, digital transformation, testing, etc. As of March 2019, the company works for 309 clients from 18 countries.

    Learn about Mindtree’s startup story and growth, founders and team, mission and vision, business and revenue model, competitors, and many more stuff about the company in this article.

    Mindtree – Company Highlights

    Startup Name StayHappi
    Headquarters Bangalore, India
    Sector Public
    Industry IT and Consulting
    Founder Subroto Bagchi, Krishnakumar Natarajan, Rostow Ravanan, N.S. Parthasarathy, Ashok Soota, Scott Staples, Anjan Lahiri, Kalyankumar Banerjee, Janakiraman, and Kamran Ozair.
    Founded 18 August 1999
    Revenue $1.3 billion (2022)
    Parent Organisation Larsen & Toubro
    Website www.mindtree.com

    About Mindtree
    Mindtree – Industry
    Mindtree – Founders
    Mindtree – Mission and Vision
    Mindtree – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Mindtree – Business Model
    Mindtree Key Services
    Mindtree – Revenue
    Mindtree – Challenges Faced
    Mindtree – Mergers and Acquisition
    Mindtree – Awards and Achievements
    Mindtree – Competitors
    Mindtree – Future Plans

    About Mindtree

    A part of the Larsen & Toubro Group, Mindtree was founded in 1999 with its headquarters in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The group took over Mindtree in 2019 with a 61.08% stake in the company.

    There’s no person who is not familiar with Mindtree, after all, it is India’s one of the leading multinational IT and consulting companies. The company has offices not only in India but in other locations outside the country too. It is present in both South and North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

    Mindtree deals with services related to the IT and consulting lines. From conception to completion, the company provides services for digital transformation and technology.

    Under its vision ‘Born Digital‘ the company aspires to offer customized solutions that are rightly developed using an agile and collective methodology throughout the whole digital value chain.

    If any person is looking to run an efficient business, then Mindtree offers the best solutions to grow their revenue with its deep expertise in infrastructure and applications management.

    Application Development and Maintenance, Data Analytics, Digital Services, Business Process Management, Engineering R&D, Enterprise Application Services, Testing, and Infrastructure Management Services are all areas in which Mindtree operates.

    Other than these services, the company is also engaged in Research and Development Services. The range of research and development services are Bluetooth Solutions, Digital Video Surveillance, the MindTest integrated testing methodology, the MWatch platform for managing IT infrastructure, the Atlas application management service, SAP Insurance, and OmniChannel.

    There are hundreds of people working for Mindtree who are contracted to provide support for Microsoft Azure (a cloud computing service by Microsoft).

    In 2006, Mindtree became a public company and got listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

    Mindtree has also left its foot in developing a sustainable approach toward society and people. The company strongly adheres to cater sustainability in the way they do their business. The pillars of the Mindtree sustainability framework are three things: Ecological Sustainability, Governance Advocacy, and Workplace Sustainability.

    Mindtree – Industry

    There is absolutely no denying that the Information Technology industry is rapidly growing. This industry is constantly changing and improving businesses, which need support to have the best possible output to reach their goals.

    As per sources, the IT industry is expected to reach Rs 14 billion by 2025. In 2019, the value of the Indian IT industry reached nearly Rs 8 billion. Furthermore, experts believe that a CAGR of over 10% will be made between 2020 and 2025.

    Mindtree – Founders

    Mindtree was founded by a bunch of Indian entrepreneurs, Subroto Bagchi, Krishnakumar Natarajan, Rostow Ravanan, N.S. Parthasarathy, Ashok Soota, Scott Staples, Anjan Lahiri, Kalyankumar Banerjee, Janakiraman, and Kamran Ozair in 1999.

    Subroto Bagchi

    Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of Mindtree
    Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of Mindtree

    Born in Patnagarh, Odisha, Subroto Bagchi is one of the founders of Mindtree. Subroto is a graduate of Utkal University in Political Science. He started his career as a clerk in the Industries Department of the Government of Odisha.

    Soon after working there for one year, Subroto worked as a management trainee in DCM for five years. After gaining a lot of exposure in the computer industry, Subroto ended up as the Chief Executive of Wipro’s Global R&D.

    Subroto Bagchi loves to write books and has many published books that tell a lot about his life story making him one of the best-selling business authors. The book called ‘Go Kiss the World: Life Lessons For The Young Professional’ is one of his autobiographies. To name a few, ‘MBA at 16’, ‘High-Performance Entrepreneur’, ‘On Leadership and Innovation’, and ‘Sell’ are some of his best-selling books.

    Subroto Bagchi is married to Susmita Bagchi, who is an Odia author.

    Krishnakumar Natarajan

    Krishnakumar Natarajan, co-founder of Mindtree
    Krishnakumar Natarajan, co-founder of Mindtree

    Krishnakumar Natarajan is one of the co-founders of Mindtree. He is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur, and a Mechanical Engineer graduate from the College of Engineering, Chennai.  From 1982 through 1999, Krishnakumar worked at Wipro where he began his career and held several important positions. He was among the top 50 highest-rated CEOs by Glassdoor in 2013. After 23 years at Mindtree, Krishnakumar Natarajan is now the Managing Partner at Mela Ventures.

    Rostow Ravanan

    Rostow Ravanan, co-founder of Mindtree
    Rostow Ravanan, co-founder of Mindtree

    Before co-founding Mindtree, Rostow Ravanan held the position of Business Value Manager at Lucent Technologies, where he was in charge of long-term strategic planning at the Bell Laboratories product realisation centre in India. An alumnus of Harvard Business School, Rostow began his career at KPMG Corporate Finance and focused on mergers and acquisitions and strategy consulting for a range of businesses. Additionally, Rostow Ravanan oversaw Mindtree’s successful IPO in 2007 while serving as the CFO for more than ten years.

    Currently, Rostow Ravanan is the Chairman and CEO of Alfahive Inc. He also happens to serve as a senior advisor on Asia TMT opportunities and is a member of Chartered Accountants of India and the Insititute of Company Secretaries of India.

    N.S. Parthasarathy

    N.S Parthasarathy, co-founder of Mindtree
    N.S Parthasarathy, co-founder of Mindtree

    N.S Parthasarathy is also among the founders of Mindtree. He began his career in Wipro’s R&D department, where he worked in a variety of technical capacities. He graduated with a master’s degree in Mathematics in 1983 from BITS Pilani. In 1984, he graduated with an MTech in computer science from India’s IIT Kharagpur.

    For 20 years, he served as co-founder, president, chief operating officer, and board member of Mindtree Limited. N S Parthasarathy has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award by his alma mater, BITS Pilani in the Category of Entrepreneurship for his extraordinary contributions to society. Presently, he is the Managing Partner at Mela Ventures.

    Ashok Soota

    Ashok Soota, co-founder of Mindtree
    Ashok Soota, co-founder of Mindtree

    Ashok Soota is the co-founder of Mindtree. At 79 years, Ashok is planning to push his newest venture Happiest Health to the initial IPO list. One of the early figures in the Indian IT sector, Ashok Soota, is very well-known. He has an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management in the Philippines and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Roorkee (now IIT, Roorkee).

    Scott Staples

    Scott Staples has over 30 years of experience in the IT service sector. He held the positions of president of the Americas and director of vertical markets at Mindtree. He has even accumulated a reputation as a “growth entrepreneur” and was honoured as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2015) in Technology Services.

    Scott graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey with a Master of Business Administration.

    Anjan Lahiri

    Anjan Lahiri, co-founder of Mindtree
    Anjan Lahiri, co-founder of Mindtree

    An alumnus of BITs, Mersa, Anjan Lahiri is among the founders of Mindtree. He has worked as a Global Information Services Executive in the US, London, and Bangalore. Assuming global responsibility for Mindtree IT Services segment as president from 2008 to 2013, he established the company throughout Europe, the US East Coast, Silicon Valley, and other locations. The Young Presidents Organization, a global peer network of CEOs and business leaders, counts Anjan Lahiri as a member. Since 2020, Anjan Lahiri is serving as the CEO of Navikenz.

    Kalyankumar Banerjee

    Kalyankumar Banerjee founded Mindtree in 1999. He holds a Mtech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Kalyan served as the Senior Vice President at Mindtree for almost 13 years before he co-founded Klorofeel Foundation in 2016. Presently, he looks after the Klorofeel school in Brahmapur, Odisha.

    S Janakiraman

    S Janakiraman, co-founder of Mindtree
    S Janakiraman, co-founder of Mindtree

    S Janakiraman is the co-founder of Mindtree and an alumnus from NIT, Trichy. He quit the company after serving as the CTO for 15 years. Janakiraman spent nearly two decades working for Wipro before founding the new business and is credited with developing the product engineering services division at Mindtree.

    Kamran Ozair

    Kamran Ozair served as the Executive Vice President and ex-co-founder of Mindtree. His role was to look after the development of technical expertise, technological direction, the formation of important collaborations, and the budgeting for Mindtree’s Technology Practices for IT Services. Ozair has a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science and engineering from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and a Master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin in Madison on artificial intelligence.

    Mindtree – Mission and Vision

    Mindtree follows three values in which they carry out their services.

    The three values are:

    • Having a collaborative Spirit – the company encourages a collaborative atmosphere where all viewpoints are valued and open discussion is expected.
    • Expert Thinking – The company aims to draw on expertise that has been demonstrated to their clients by providing recommendations and offering knowledgeable counsel.
    • Unrelenting Dedication – The company aims to solve clients’ problems through hard work and determination.

    The mission of Mindtree says, “We engineer meaningful technology solutions to help businesses and societies flourish”.

    Mindtree Logo
    Mindtree Logo

    Mindtree goes by the tagline, “Welcome to Possible”, which rightly defines the company’s powerful expression of delivering technology.

    The logo of Mindtree is like a multi-stranded, centre hub like a mind that is meant to symbolise the fusion of technology and thought.

    Mindtree – Business Model

    Mindtree is a part of the Larsen and Toubro group, which was founded 22 years ago. The business model of the company is mostly based on B2B (Business to Business).

    The focus of Mindtree’s operations is on clients from industries like banking, capital markets, consumer electronics, packaged goods, independent software vendors, manufacturing, insurance, media & entertainment, retail, semiconductors, travel & hospitality, and the real estate sector.

    Mindtree operates its business by providing several services to these aforementioned clients.

    Mindtree Key Services

    Blockchain

    The company has strong expertise in the field of blockchain. The company has developed integrated blockchain-based products by utilising its connections with top suppliers and the convergence of technologies like AI/ML, IoT, RPA, and AR/VR into current corporate systems.

    Some of its blockchain services are:

    • Requirement analysis
    • Selection and Design
    • Transformation and Integration
    • Implementation Roadmap

    Digital Marketing and E-commerce

    The company’s digital marketing and e-commerce services offer personalised content and frictionless commerce creating and realising outcome-driven experiences for its clients.

    The company provides consumer-centric commerce solutions like:

    • Marketing and commerce platforms
    • Direct-to-consumer commerce
    • Mobile app development services
    • Emerging channels
    • Digital asset management
    • Intelligent marketing, commerce, and IT operations
    • Measurement

    Mindtree has alliances with companies like Big Commerce, SAP Partner, Salesforce, Sitecore, etc.

    Design and Innovation

    To link consumer behavior to business results, Mindtree’s design and innovation services combine applied design thinking skills with distinctive creative qualities. They offer their clients top-notch revolutionary solutions because of its high-impact team of strategists, researchers, and designers, and reinforced by best-in-class experience techs.

    Mindtree’s experience design and innovation services are:

    • Experience Strategies
    • Design Systems and standards
    • Studio and Production

    Product Engineering

    Product engineering from Mindtree aims at the delivery and consumption of technology products and services that have undergone several changes as a result of rapidly shifting consumption habits and increasing client expectations.

    Below are some of Mindtree’s product engineering service offerings:

    • Platform and Device Engineering
    • Product support and operations
    • R&D lab operations
    • Product Quality Engineering

    Data and Intelligence

    The company is also involved in providing analytics solutions through artificial intelligence to convert most of the data into actionable insights. Its data and intelligence services are:

    DataOps and Management

    Mindtree has services in the Dataops and management, that is by offering AI-infused, platform-led data supply chain management, including data structure management and cataloguing.

    Data Modernisation

    Under this service, Mindtree restructures clients’ data ecosystem into a single platform to create a cutting-edge data supply chain.

    Data insights and action

    These services are provided to analyse insights from clients’ data to help them augment business decisions.

    Cloud Services

    Going with their strategy of “Why cloud” rather than “What Cloud can deliver”, Mindtree offers cloud services that are designed in a way to enable end-to-end automation for data migration.

    Mindtree cloud services are as follows:

    • Cloud consulting
    • Cloud Build
    • Cloud Operations
    • Cloud Data
    • Cloud Security

    Mindtree – Revenue

    Mindtree generates its revenue by providing the above-mentioned services.

    As of 2022, the revenue of the company was reported to be Rs10,520 crores ($1.3 billion). As per sources, Mindtree’s revenue has gone up to 31% in the fiscal year 2022.

    Mindtree – Challenges Faced

    In 2019, Mindtree went through a major challenge as it was going to be taken over by the L&T group. The decision was not supported by Mindtree as it was a hostile bid. Mindtree used to compete with the L&T group, which is why it didn’t want its stake to go to its rival company.

    But sadly, the group took over Mindtree in June 2019, which is what is called the biggest and first ever hostile takeover in the IT industry.

    Mindtree – Mergers and Acquisition

    Mindtree has made a total of eleven acquisitions as of today. Here’s the list of acquisitions by Mindtree:

    Acquiree name Year Amount
    Magnet 360 2016 $50 million
    Relational Solutions Inc 2015 $10 million
    Bluefin Solutions Limited 2015 £42.3 million
    Discoverture Solutions LLC 2015 $15 million
    7Strata 2010 $7.2 million
    Kyocera Wireless India Pvt Ltd 2009 $6 million
    Aztecsoft 2008 $40 million
    TES-Purple Vision 2007 $6.55 million
    CoSystems 2005 –
    Linc Software Services Pvt Ltd 2005 $7 million
    ASAP Solutions 2004 –

    Mindtree – Awards and Achievements

    Take a look at the number of awards won by Mindtree in the last few years:

    2022

    • Mindtree is “Great Place to Work-Certified™ in India for the second consecutive year
    • Ranked Among Asia-Pacific’s Top Ten Companies
    • Golden Peacock Award for Risk Management 2021
    • Recognised as Global Emerging Service Provider Partner of the Year
    • ‘Silver Shield’ for Excellence in Integrated Reporting from ICAI for 2020-21
    • Platinum Award at the League of American Communications Professionals’ Annual Report Competition for 2020-21
    • Mindtree was listed in the FTSE4GOOD Index Series

    2021

    • ‘Special Recognition’ at the SHRM HR Awards 2021 for Excellence in Talent Acquisition
    • Winner of Best in Biz Award 2021 in North America
    • Ranked among the top 5 IT services companies and among the top 10 NSE 500 companies across industry sectors in India for its overall ESG performance.
    • Recognised as among the UK’s top companies in customer satisfaction according to the 2021
    • Was named as the Leader in ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant Report on Salesforce Ecosystem Partners 2021 (US)

    2020

    • “Best Employer for Women” by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)
    • Ranked amongst Global Leadership League in Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2020 Climate Change world ranking
    • Ranked as the Leader in ISG Public Cloud Solutions and Service Partners Archetype Report 2020

    Mindtree – Competitors

    Mindtree competes with the following companies:

    • TCS
    • Infosys
    • HCL Tech
    • Wipro
    • Tech Mahindra
    • MphasiS
    • Oracle Fin Services Software Ltd.
    • Persistent
    • COFORGE LTD.

    Mindtree – Future Plans

    Mindtree currently has its operations in cloud computing, data and intelligence, and digital marketing and e-commerce across the globe which helps the company generate its maximum revenue.

    Mindtree says about its future, “We continue to see very strong traction across all our verticals – Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance, Technology, Media and Services, Travel and Hospitality, Retail, CPG and Manufacturing. Some of the engagements we have been executing for our clients are path-breaking for their respective industries. We also have a strong recognition in the marketplace owing to our partnerships with Cloudera, AWS and Azure, content management with Adobe, etc.”

    FAQs

    Who is the founder of Mindtree?

    Subroto Bagchi, Ashok Soota, Krishnakumar Natarajan, Anjan Lahiri are the founders of Mindtree.

    Who is the CEO of Mindtree?

    Debashis Chatterjee is the CEO of Mindtree.

    What is the revenue of Mindtree?

    The revenue of Mindtree is US$1.4 billion as of 2022.

  • Zilingo Success Story – How is the Engineering the Future of Fashion?

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Zilingo.

    Like that of so many other sectors, fashion and apparel’s digital transition has advanced dramatically under COVID. This has influenced not just how people engage with brands and merchants, but also how the market runs within, including inventory management, prices, and logistics, as well as production and product design.

    A sector that has always (and continues to be) centred on the foundation of ideas, creative, and innovative expression is now incorporating more technology into the equation, implementing innovation to new levels.

    Zilingo is a B2B technology platform that provides innovative manufacturing, sourcing, and trading technologies to the global clothing distribution chain. It was formed in 2015 to make an interconnected and accessible supply chain approachable to all.

    Here’s the success story of Zilingo that covers all about Zilingo, the Startup Story and Growth of Zilingo, Zilingo Competitors, Zilingo Revenue, Zilingo Business and Revenue Model, and more, you can check ahead!

    Zilingo – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Zilingo
    Parent Zilingo Pte Ltd
    Subsidiaries Zilingo Business
    Industry E-commerce
    Headquarter Singapore
    Founders Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor
    Founded 2015
    Key People Dhruv Kapoor (Chief Technology Officer), Jim Perry(Chief Financial Officer), Aadi Vaidya(Chief Operating Officer), Marita Abraham(Chief Marketing Officer)
    Areas Served Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and the United States
    Website zilingotrade.com

    About Zilingo, and How it Works?
    Zilingo – Industry
    Zilingo – Name, Logo, and Tagline
    Zilingo – Founders and Team
    Zilingo – Startup Story
    Zilingo – Mission
    Zilingo – Business and Revenue Model
    Zilingo – Funding, and Investors
    Zilingo – Acquisitions
    Zilingo – Growth
    Zilingo – Competitors
    Zilingo – Challenges Faced

    About Zilingo, and How it Works?

    Zilingo is a B2B platform that connects all parts of the fashion industry’s supply chain, from raw material suppliers to merchants to buyers. They offer a wide range of technical help, including data science, online platforms, and other virtual services, as well as company sourcing and finance.

    When a small localised store tries to move online or attract more people, they are confronted with several challenges. Funding, technologies, accessibility, and rivalry from more prominent, more established companies also impede them.

    Although their commodities may have unrealised potential on the global market, many merchants find it difficult to make a profit in that environment. When seeking to sell to a statewide or worldwide audience, small businesses sometimes have to go through multiple intermediaries and incur numerous costs. They are losing money because their margins are being stretched. Zilingo focuses on this problem, assisting small enterprises in receiving their due.

    Zilingo is a comprehensive, adaptable platform that helps small businesses increase efficiency and revenue. This service is available to merchants in a variety of nations and brings together a large number of producers and manufacturers.

    Simultaneously, the design, production, and other parts of the final product remain decentralised. Small vendors may be independent and true to their style without paying a listing fee, which Zilingo does not charge its manufacturing workers.

    Their varied staff, decentralised culture, technical innovation, and devotion to assisting smaller businesses set them apart from the competition. They offer a wide range of items obtained from many countries and providers, all of which are supported by this platform. This enables small companies to deal directly with a bigger market, such as brands or other clients, over the internet.

    Products of Zilingo

    Zilingo operates as a technology platform that is empowering the global supply chain. It provides innovative products and trade services to power brands, wholesalers, retailers, distributors, factories and more. Zilingo offers:

    Z Trade – This vertical helps Zilingo to extend the facilities of sourcing custom-made apparel, fabric, yarn and more.

    Zilingo Trade
    Zilingo Trade

    Z Factory – This Zilingo vertical helps Zilingo to let the factories optimise their operations.  

    Zilingo Factory
    Zilingo Factory

    Z Connect – Z Connect of Zilingo offers omnichannel, inventory management and marketing solutions as services.

    Zilingo Connect
    Zilingo Connect

    Zilingo Services

    Zilingo services are:

    Z Marketing – Zilingo offers marketing solutions to help brands maximise their sales. This is done by the in-house experts that Zilingo houses.

    Z Fintech – Z Fintech uses the transaction data to offer companies and individuals better access to capital for the growth of their businesses.

    Z Logistics – Zilingo offers the optimisation services of logistics costs and provides others with the facilities of flexible payments.  

    Zilingo – Industry

    From the development of the needle and thread to the emergence of e-commerce, fashion was always at the leading edge of innovation. Fashion, like technology, is forward-thinking and progressive.

    The fashion industry has been one of the world’s largest, with a market value of more than $3 trillion expected by the end of the decade. Fashion technology is evolving at a quicker rate than ever before. Fashion firms are working with technology suppliers, buying startups, and even developing their technologies to expand their streams of income and marketing strategies.  

    Similarly, the sector is re-evaluating operations across the supply chain in a drive to reinvent itself as it confronts a long-overdue confrontation with its social and environmental consequences.

    With organisations and businesses growing into new sectors of the fashion business, there is a clear trend toward adopting technology to improve the consumer experience. New fibres and mixes are emerging as manufacturing methods improve, allowing for greater product diversification. The fashion industry’s retail sector is putting a lot of emphasis on making the consumer’s buying experience easier and more enjoyable.

    Collaborations are resulting in fascinating new goods by combining the talents of several sectors to develop something efficient and innovative. With a constant stream of new and interesting propelling the fashion industry forward, these unlimited possibilities have more room to grow.

    Zilingo – Name, Logo, and Tagline

    Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor founded “Zilingo” in 2015, the name being a spin on the term “zillion,” which also means ‘Gift of god.’ Bose got the idea for Zilingo while on vacation in Bangkok and realised that many SMEs lacked an online footprint. Dependability, freshness, and expressivity are all symbolised by the word Zilingo.

    Zilingo Logo
    Zilingo Logo

    Zilingo’s tagline says, “Dare to be Bold”.

    Zilingo – Founders and Team

    Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor founded Zilingo in 2015.

    Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor - Founders of Zilingo
    Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor – Founders of Zilingo

    Ankiti Bose

    Before establishing Zilingo, Ankiti spent three years in management consulting and venture capital at Sequoia Capital and McKinsey & Company. She focused on digital commerce possibilities on digital devices at Sequoia. She worked on strategy and operations in a variety of sectors at McKinsey & Company.

    Ankiti graduated from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai with a Bachelor of arts degree in Maths and Economics. Ankiti adds a wealth of experience and expertise in the mobile e-commerce market to Zilingo.

    She takes a hands-on, analytical approach to operations and strategy decisions, and she was heavily involved in all the elements of strategic and operational decision-making of the company. She was the CEO of the company before she was ousted from her role in April 2022. Ankiti Bose was associated with financial irregularities of the company and was eventually suspended from her duties for 51 days, and after this suspensation, she was finally terminated.

    Ankiti Bose again has quit the Zilingo board, as of June 30, 2022. She has stated the same from her Instagram handle, adding that the board even failed to show her the reports from Kroll and Deloitte. The firing of Ankiti Bose from the CEO position and this resignation that she brought in to quit the Zilingo board, has two faces. Here, while the board is citing financial irregularities under Bose, Ankiti has brought up harassment complaints to the investors and claims that these were the reasons that changed the board’s mind against her. However, the Zilingo board denied all the allegations of any wrongdoings whatsoever.

    Dhruv Kapoor

    Dhruv Kapoor is an IIT Guwahati alumnus and is known as the CTPO of Zilingo. He worked at the gaming company Kiwi Inc., as a software engineer, before joining Zilingo. Kapoor was a Software Engineer at Yahoo before that.

    Aadi Vaidya, the Zilingo COO, quit Zilingo after 7 years of being with the firm, as of July 30, 2022. Along with talking highly of his tenure with the company, where he learned too many things to sum up in words, Vaidya stated that he is geared up to meet with interesting people, read, travel and re-prioritise. Aadi is now looking to embrace his next adventure.

    The resignation of Aadi comes after Ankiti was separated from the firm in May 2022, and Ramesh Bafna, the CFO of Zilingo, stepped down in the same month. Besides, Naushaba Salahuddin, the head of PR and communications, also quit the beleaguered company in the meanwhile.

    The employee strength of Zilingo now ranges between 201-500 employees, as per its LinkedIn profile.

    Zilingo Shareholders

    Zilingo Shareholding Pattern - Zilingo Shareholders
    Zilingo Shareholding Pattern – Zilingo Shareholders

    Zilingo – Startup Story

    Ankiti was once on a vacation trip to Bangkok with her pals. The majority of the sellers at Thailand’s Chatuchak market came from distant communities miles away. They were unable to market their products on the internet. The main reason is that they lack both technical and economic expertise.

    She chose to do business in Thailand because it could benefit over 8000 small businesses there. She founded Zilingo, one of Southeast Asia’s most popular online platforms. By developing the right customers throughout the world, particularly merchants, obtain larger advantages in their product range.

    Ankiti earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai in 2012. In 2014, Ankiti met Dhruv Kapoor during a house party. They shared the same talents and abilities, as well as the desire to establish a business by permitting a more inventive technique.

    Dhruv worked as a software developer for a well-known gaming firm, while Ankiti worked as an analyst for Sequoia India. During the party, Ankiti and Dhruv established a deal that allowed the two of them to leave their jobs and start their own business. Both of them quit their jobs within four months to work on Zilingo, a fashion e-commerce technology company.

    Two of them put their resources and savings of around $30,000 into the Zilingo startup concept. The Sequoia company also put money into Zilingo. With its innovative and open-minded founders, Zilingo has had more success. Eventually, Ankiti became the CEO, and Dhruv the CTPO of the company.

    Zilingo – Mission

    Zilingo’s mission is “to provide a platform where thousands of fashion merchants could sell and become part of the digital economy.”

    Zilingo – Business and Revenue Model

    On the back of its robust business model, Zilingo had geared to revolutionize the clothing and accessories industry by assisting small firms in bypassing intermediaries on their journey to a massive internet market. It decided to provide traders with an end-to-end cloud-based platform that not only connected but also provided technical and financial assistance to numerous independent participants.

    The company operates as a B2B platform in the fashion industry that offers small businesses the resources, networking, financial, and technical help they need to interact with other small businesses and their larger client base. To grow their firm, a small retailer or designer can now acquire raw materials from suppliers, manufacturers, and even tech help.

    Zilingo has raised over $347 million in funding and had almost closed in terms of valuation to become one of the Indian unicorn companies, but that didn’t happen ultimately. However, it aspires to become a big player in fashion by building symbiotic connections with small merchants and enterprises since they are committed to enabling small firms in the sector. It wants to become a platform that enables small brands to band together and continue growing, in rivalry with multinational companies.

    The Zilingo revenue model primarily depends on the business-to-business operations that Zilingo does, of matching brands with suppliers. In 2019, the same operations successfully contributed to 80% of the revenues that Zilingo received.  

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    Zilingo – Funding, and Investors

    Zilingo has received 7 funding rounds in total as of June 20, 2022, which might receive yet another funding round worth around $8 mn in equity in tranches to prevent the voluntary liquidation of the company, as stated by the letter that the founders of the company have forwarded the board, according to reports dated June 20, 2022.  

    Date Round Amount Lead Investors
    Jul 1, 2021 Debt Financing $40M –
    Dec 5, 2019 Venture Round – –
    Feb 11, 2019 Series D $226M Sequoia Capital India
    Apr 4, 2018 Series C $54M Burda Principal Investments, Sequoia Capital India, Sofina
    Sep 12, 2017 Series B $18M Burda Principal Investments, Sequoia Capital
    Sep 5, 2016 Series A $8M Sequoia Capital, Susquehanna International Group (SIG), Venture Capital
    Nov 9, 2015 Seed Round $1.9M –

    Zilingo – Acquisitions

    Acquiree Name About Acquiree Date Amount
    nCinga nCinga is offer an all-encompassing solution for the apparel, manufacturing and telecommunication industries. Dec 17, 2019 $15.5M

    Zilingo – Growth

    Zilingo has achieved quite a growth since it started. The company has powered innovation for 20,000+ companies worldwide. It even chased the unicorn valuation and reached $970 mn in net worth before the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease. The customers of Zilingo include reputed brands like Flipkart, FirstCry, Myntra, Wrogn, Nykaa, Aditya Birla Group, Radnik, Dressmen, Redwolf and more. Zilingo went from being a company that was all set to raise millions of dollars to one that needs to fight for its survival. Remarking on the same, Ankiti Bose, the Former Founder, CEO, and Board member, said “hundreds of employees and customers are also in a state of limbo and do not have any clarity on their future: just like me.”  

    Numerous media reports stated that the Zilingo company is all set to liquidate in order to pay its creditors off, while Bose has opposed this decision of the board, mentioning that would result in unsettling numerous employees.

    Zilingo – Competitors

    The top Zilingo competitors include:

    • deco network
    • Zalora
    • BlueCherry Suite
    • RLM Apparel Software
    • Printavo
    • ApparelMagic
    • SupplyCompass
    • Sync
    • TRIMIT Fashion

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    Zilingo – Challenges Faced

    Zilingo’s issues began with disorganized management and a lack of transparency in expenditures and quickly escalated into a violent ideological battle between founders Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor, which risked swallowing the company whole.

    Lack of Proper Software

    In the early days, the capital-intensive B2C vertical and the lack of a software platform for B2B operations led to overpaying on marketing, staff committing fraud, and more.

    The Covid-19 Onslaught

    Zilingo was once a company that was a soonicorn, the value of which neared $970 bn in 2019. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, revenues started dipping and layoffs followed. The revenues dropped to 1/3rd of what it was prior to the pandemic period, which was roughly estimated at around $40 mn. Even the Former Co-founder-CEO, Ankiti Bose also took a 30% pay cut as a result.

    Ankiti Bose is believed to have taken legal action against co-founder Dhruv Kapoor and is attempting to purchase back Sequoia’s 26% stake in the firm, notwithstanding her suspension.

    Ankiti Bose and Sequoia’s Shailendra Singh had a personal spat about the direction of the business, capital burn, and the absence of a route to revenue gains, all stemming from the company’s concentration on a rapid expansion that began in 2018. And that unfolded as conflicts between Bose and Dhruv Kapoor, the other co-founder, grew.

    There have also been claims that Kapoor and other top workers at the business concealed sexual harassment reports. Bose is reportedly considering suing Kapoor as well as buying back Sequoia’s investment in the firm.

    It was more like a jigsaw puzzle, with concepts and tactics that lacked practical vision and preparation. In the early years, the digital platform was mostly absent, and Zilingo burned through millions of dollars marketing and promoting the B2C fashion vertical. Founders argued over various ideas and even alleged practises of sexual harassment in the workplace throughout all of this. But now the case against Zilingo is that he committed deliberate fraud. At least, that’s what the board says, but we don’t know what the fraud was, how it happened, or how it escaped the notice of the board and key VCs like Sequoia, Burda, Temasek, Beenext, and others.

    The Zilingo board was already looking forward to a voluntary liquidation of the company, but the founders Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor have joined hands to make a management buyout offer of the company, as per reports dated June 20, 2022. The letter that was issued by the Co-founder and CTPO of Zilingo Dhruv Kapoor, mentioned that the new investor will infuse $8 mn in equity in tranches. According to this new offer, if the deal comes through, “pursuant to Singapore’s Insolvency, Restructuring, and Dissolution Act, Zilingo will be transferred to the ownership of a newly incorporated entity.”

    A look at how the events unfolded and the firing of the company CEO and Co-founder Ankiti Bose

    If you are wondering how Ankiti Bose was fired all of a sudden, then here’s a look at all the events that happened and led to the eventual firing of the Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose:

    April 12, 2022 – Ziling shareholders discovered financial irregularities and suspended Ankiti Bose until May 5th. Bose was first called to a meeting dated March 31st, 2022, and was briefed about serious complaints against her, and all about financial discrepancies and mismanagement. Bose, in turn, called the company’s actions a “witch hunt”.

    April 14, 2022 – Shailendra Singh, Sequoia Capital MD stepped down.

    April 19, 2022 – Zilingo Board discussed replacing Ankiti Bose, and talks of the company CFO Ramesh Bafna to be elevated as the CEO circulated.

    May 4, 2022 – The Zilingo Board appointed Deloitte to launch a probe after Ankiti Bose claimed that sexual harassment was an issue after she was suspended. Dhruv Kapoor also penned a note to the employees where he defended the company.

    May 20, 2022 – Zilingo fired Ankiti Bose, and stated that it can also take legal action against her.  

    FAQs

    What does Zilingo do?

    Zilingo is a B2B technology platform that provides innovative manufacturing, sourcing, and trading technologies to the global clothing distribution chain.

    Who founded Zilingo?

    Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor founded Zilingo in 2015.

    When was Zilingo founded?

    Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor founded Zilingo in 2015.

    Is Ankiti Bose still the CEO of Zilingo?

    The former CEO-Co-founder, Ankiti Bose was fired by Zilingo on May 20, 2022. So, she is no longer the CEO of Zilingo.

    Why was Ankiti Bose fired by Zilingo?

    Ankiti Bose was sacked by Zilingo board because of financial irregularities noticed in the company in relation to Ankiti Bose.

    What are the Zilingo competitors?

    The main Zilingo competitors are:

    • deco network
    • Zalora
    • BlueCherry Suite
    • RLM Apparel Software
    • Printavo
    • ApparelMagic
    • SupplyCompass
    • Sync
    • TRIMIT Fashion

  • MINISO Marketing Strategy That Makes for Its Mega Success

    Nobody could have ever predicted that China would experience another period of rapid economic boom. Similar to how Toyoko dominated the automotive industry, a brand that has been reigning the consumers for more than 6 years by offering a variety of goods and services is MINISO. It was founded by Chinese entrepreneur Ye Guofu in 2013, and the company was inspired by Japanese design-led lifestyle products. Since 2017, a Chinese-retail chain, Miniso has accounted for a major share of the consumer market.

    By earning customers’ trust and catering to their preferences in many countries, Miniso has experienced tremendous success in the market owning more than 5000 stores across the world. Miniso instantly gained fame for producing ingenious, cost-effective, and low-priced goods. We all adore small consumer goods that are both practical and appealing, right? For instance, Miniso has developed a remarkable technique for producing facemasks that effectively puts the compressed facemasks into a bowl of water and waits for it to expand. In this context, we may say that Miniso, a Chinese company, has been manufacturing design-led lifestyle products that are secure, cost-effective, stylish, trendy, and simple to use.

    In this article, we will go through the marketing strategies that made Miniso a renowned brand throughout the world.

    Marketing Strategies of MINISO

    Unique Features of MINISO’s Marketing Strategy
    STP of MINISO
    Most Popular MINISO Campaign
    MINISO’s Covid19 Marketing Strategy

    Where MINISO Makes Its Money? 2020
    Where MINISO Makes Its Money? 2020

    Marketing Strategies of MINISO

    Miniso is a popular Chinese company that has stores all around the world. It is probably the first name to pop up in people’s heads whenever someone thinks of buying beautiful-looking stuff on a budget. It is because of the brand’s amazing marketing strategies that make it a popular name among everyone. The following are the key marketing strategies of Miniso:

    Market Entry Strategy

    Miniso undoubtedly offers the best product and customer experiences because it has explored the international markets and launched more than 5000 stores in the US, Canada, South Korea, India, UAE, Hong Kong, and many other countries. As mentioned before, Miniso emphasizes products with appealing appearances, reasonable prices, and high quality to meet customers’ specifications. Furtherly, Miniso’s business strategy is known as “Three Highs, Three Lows,” where “Three Lows” refers to low prices based on low costs and low margins whereas “Three Highs” refers to higher efficiency, higher technology, and higher product quality.

    Communication Strategy

    Miniso is considered a fast fashion brand, which combines trend and leisure in its product, and prioritizes creativity, high quality, low price, and safety of the product. Miniso communicates or launches any new product through social media platforms. For instance, Miniso created Hashtags like #LoveLifeLoveMiniso, #MinisoLife, and #MinisoIndia to advertise its products. All this contributes to mass-media advancements, word-of-mouth referrals, and sales promotion and also makes people aware of its product and services.

    Intensive Management Strategy

    Applying the model ‘Three Highs Three Lows’, Miniso never fails to amuse us with its Intensive Management, where the interior decoration style of the store is modest and unique, American colour palette, product presentation, it’s shelving, making it difficult for the customers to walk away with empty hands.

    Product Design

    One of the greatest strategies of Miniso lies in its product design. Miniso never fails to offer high-quality appealing products at affordable prices. Most of the brand’s designers are Japanese who make the products so appealing that it becomes hard for the customers to not make any purchase from them.

    Brand Strategy

    MINISO Partners With MARVEL and Hello Kitty - MINISO Brand Strategy
    MINISO Partners With MARVEL and Hello Kitty – MINISO Brand Strategy

    From food & beverages, cosmetics, health & beauty, clothing, household goods, digital products, daily life products, to fashion accessories, the Chinese brand has been earning profit through selling its wide range of products all over the world at low cost and proposing new products regularly. Moreover, Miniso collaborates with other renowned brands, such as Hello Kitty, and Marvel Studio so the fans out there would love to have products if Iron man is in them. Miniso’s brand strategy is based on the choices of the customer and aims to entice the widest range of middle-class customers.

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    Unique Features of MINISO’s Marketing Strategy

    The following are the unique features of Miniso’s marketing strategy that makes it stand out:

    In-Store Experience

    Miniso perfectly identifies and meets this unspoken need. Shelves serve as marketing communication, and the American colour scheme provided by the brand, makes one want to make a purchase immediately. When you add in the brand’s stunning decorations, it becomes pretty much unavoidable to leave their store.

    Smart Collaboration

    Synergy always results from partnering with another profitable organization. By working with brands like The Pink Panther, Hello Kitty, and Marvel Studios, Miniso demonstrated this in person. Before the publication of Avengers Endgame, one must have observed how popular its commodities were and Miniso did not miss to take advantage of it.

    Giveaways and Contests

    MINISO India Holi Giveaway
    MINISO India Holi Giveaway

    Free things are always the best way to draw people’s attention regardless of how big or small they are. Everyone loves getting things for nothing. Even if they might never use the free goods, they still desire them, regardless of how essential it is. So, to take advantage of this fact, Miniso regularly conducts contests and giveaways for the customers.

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    Endorsements and Influencer Marketing

    Products promoted by prominent personalities are frequently adored by consumers. We are more inclined to make a purchase when it is promoted by our favoured celebs and is within our price range. When everyone desired the popular Marvel drinks, attractive coin purses, and AirPods cases, the brand’s popularity skyrocketed.

    Psychological Marketing

    Miniso maintains its prices at Rs. 99 or Rs. 249 and tailors the beauty products by incorporating sun signs, adorable customized notes, and colour chord progressions. This helps the brand create a connection with the customers. People are encouraged to spend longer time in the store due to the lively ambience, attentive floor staff, and Billboard Top 50 songs streaming in the background.

    Campaigns

    Another unique feature of Miniso’s marketing strategy is its appealing campaigns on social media. With promotions like #ShowMinisoColour on Holi, it inspires customers to take photos of all the colourful Miniso merchandise they have purchased. People were urged to reflect on their personalities and use colour to express them. Miniso created its shopper personas and infused them with advertising effectiveness techniques. Additionally, it leveraged the pandemic scenario to rally its fans on social media, using hashtags like #WeWillGetThroughThisTogether to uplift people’s life force with their acquisition.

    STP of MINISO

    Segmentation

    Previously stated that Miniso frames its marketing strategies according to the choices of customers. Generally, Miniso focuses on the age group of 15-35 years old and impose restriction on the use in the hands of children as it contains plastic and Miniso’s psychographic is based on middle-class customers.

    Targeting

    The key demographic for Miniso are homemakers who require uniquely designed goods and services. It concentrates on homewares and consumer goods that offer excellent value at affordable prices.

    Positioning

    The positioning of product differences is the foundation of MINISO’s marketing strategy. Miniso demonstrates creativity and is renowned for its unique and fashionable items of high quality at reasonable prices. It is presented as a fast-fashion brand.

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    MINISO #Love2gether Campaign

    Love2gether

    On March 22, 2022, the international lifestyle store celebrated the conclusion of its MINI bus global tour and #love2gether campaign. The programme which promoted love and unity throughout the world involved 100,000 consumers from nine different nations. The #love2gether campaign by MINISO, which went live on February 22, uses social media to spread a theme of happiness and harmony. The label MINISO flagship shop in Soho, New York City, was the starting point for the MINI Bus, which travelled to Mexico, Italy, Spain, Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, among other places. The bus travelled to famous locations all around the globe in a 30-day period.

    On March 28, about 100,000 customers visited physical MINISO stores to leave greetings. People also posted online content with the hashtag #love2gether which amassed more than 3 million likes. Every experience was customized by MINISO to meet the needs of various markets, from influencer relationships to the layout and transit of the MINI Bus.

    The MINI Bus in Naples, Italy, was encased in a vintage design that reflected the distinctive aesthetic identity and rich history of the city. For the big finale of the MINIBus global tour and the #love2gether marketing in the UAE, MINISO lighted up the iconic Ain Dubai. The worldwide retail network of MINISO is also responsible for the camp’s triumph. By the end of 2021, MINISO had established 5,045 retail locations across 100 nations, bringing happiness to all lands. Since MINISO Plushie Day was established, this is the organization’s first significant advertising effort. MINISO promoted a message of hope and brought additional energy throughout the Covid period.

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    MINISO’s Covid19 Marketing Strategy

    A Winning Couple in MINISO USA for the #LoveWithoutDistance Campaign
    A Winning Couple in MINISO USA for the #LoveWithoutDistance Campaign

    A secret $100 MINISO gift package will be delivered to the recipients’ loved ones on Valentine’s Day in 2021 as part of MINISO’s #LoveWithoutDistance Campaign, which it launched on Instagram and selected 100 heartwarming love tales from people divided by COVID-19 lockdowns. The successful contestants received a thoughtfully packaged personalized gift box that could be scooped up at their nearby MINISO location.

    This helped them enjoy a challenging Valentine’s Day in 2021 and echoed the brand’s purpose of encouraging us all to appreciate life’s little wonders. 100 MINISO prize packages were sent to finalists from 16 different countries as part of the campaign, which involved over 11,000 participants worldwide. Over 930,000 people worldwide had been contacted by the campaign. With a sum of 545 comments and 28,791 likes, the campaign also garnered strong organic involvement on Instagram.

    Conclusion

    MINISO is a global brand that specializes in various products like cosmetics, personal care, toys, stationary, and more. The brand’s stores in various countries are what makes it the most appealing among the customers. Thus, MINISO’s product design, in-store experience, social media campaigns, brand strategy and overall marketing strategy are responsible for making it a renowned brand throughout the world.

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    List of the Best Laptops in India for Office and Personal use

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    FAQs

    What is MINISO famous for?

    MINISO is famous for offering a wide range of appealing household goods, cosmetics, toys, stationary and more at reasonable prices.

    Who are the competitors of MINISO?

    UNIQLO, MUJI, and MUMUSO are the top competitors of MINISO.

    Is MINISO a Japanese or Chinese brand?

    MINISO is a Chinese brand, however, its products are mostly influenced by Japanese design.

  • Top 10 Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    Yes, we are in the digitalized India, where businesses seek their potential leads through various social media channels. In order to draw their awareness, we imply various marketing strategies, from blogging, article writing, PR, social media campaigns, and many more to increase leads, which is ultimately done through high-quality content writing. A well-crafted brand story may be encapsulated in content, which also offers dependability and authenticity, improves Google ranking, fosters engagement and entertainment, and is worth a try for your company.

    One of the only effective and priceless ways to connect brands with their customers is through content marketing. People are lining up to learn the profession of content writing since it will help them with their future businesses.

    Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency?

    Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    Content writing is one of the most flourishing industries today. So, in order to help people gain the best possible advantage of it, there are various agencies providing this service. The following are the best 10 content writing agencies in India:

    Most Outsourced Content Creation Services by Marketing Professionals Worldwide (2020)
    Most Outsourced Content Creation Services by Marketing Professionals Worldwide (2020)

    Write Right

    Write Right - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Write Right – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    This Ahmedabad-based digital writing company was established in 2015 with the goal of giving the greatest solutions for carrying out marketing strategies through their consistent & unique content writing services. Write Right is a modern 360-degree content writing firm with 6 plus years of experience that is regarded as a premium digital writing company for its characteristics in creating high-quality content for your brands while also being distinctive in its content, engaging in a narrative manner, and being free of plagiarism.

    Content Whale

    Content Whale - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Content Whale – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    Content Whale is one of the top content marketing agencies in India with more than 1000 successful projects to date. It is highly known for its 42 types of content writing services from articles & blogs, product descriptions, case studies, Technical content, and report writing, to social media copywriting and many more. The company bestows exclusive & professional writing services from posting high-quality information, increasing traffic & publishing the content on the digital platform, timely submission, and proofreading, thus helping your business grow digitally. Additionally, according to the type of service and number of words demanded, the price is estimated by an online estimator.

    Estorytellers

    Estorytellers - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Estorytellers – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    Estorytellers, one of Write Right’s subsidiary businesses, has emerged as the best-rated and most-reviewed content writing provider. Estorytellers do high-quality work in the areas of branding, interaction, and producing appealing content to reach as many viewers as possible. The business offers 11 different categories of content writing services, including copywriting, ghostwriting, social media writing, website content marketing, blogging, and many more. The cost is determined according to the word count; for instance, a university SOP of up to 500 words would cost 1,699 INR.

    Scatter

    Scatter - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Scatter – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    Since the launch of Scatter in 2015, the company has partnered with more than 700 freelancers in creating more than 50,000 pieces of content for 200+ brands. Scatter manages brands by offering a suite of proprietary Martech solutions, engineering strategic alliances, editorial strategists, customer success managers, and content producers, and focusing on best-in-class content strategy.

    Text Mercato

    Text Mercato - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Text Mercato – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    This is a Bengaluru-based content writing agency founded by Kiran and Subhajit with an aim to bring good content services to the Indian market. This company offers its services to various industries such as fashion, healthcare, travel, real estate, and other industries in blogging, SEO, cataloguing, product description, market reporting, creative content writing, copywriting, and more. All articles are costed at 1/re per word by this agency.

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    Godot Media

    Godot Media - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Godot Media – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    Godot Media provides complete technologies for scalable content delivery and boasts of global customers in more than 20 nations. The majority of their clients are full-time employees, which results in a rather large amount of work in the industry, which also serves numerous foreign companies like Sotheby’s, AES International, etc. For a range of industries, Godot Media offers a variety of content. Its pricing starts from $1.3 per 100 words for an article, $2.7 per 100 words for copywriting, $3 per page for E-books, and $64 per month for social media. Those who do not require an entire team and want the content once or occasionally can order it from the agency’s subsidiary, Narrato.

    Justwords

    Justwords - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Justwords – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    This is another best content writing agency in India which is known to have worked with Gurugram-based Homify, HDFC Ergo, Boston Consulting Group, and other companies. To complement their clients’ document management loop, they additionally offer powerful SEO products. It provides a network of creative minds that offers comprehensive content solutions. The content writing firm has over ten years of experience in the industry and has also achieved awards from Google for two consecutive years for its work.

    Pepper Content

    Pepper Content - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Pepper Content – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    One of the biggest content management marketplaces in India was created by Pepper Content, which unites writers, editors, and brands in one place. Within a few years, this Indian content writing organization logged more than 1,000 subscribers. Pepper Content has received applications from almost 50,000 freelancers worldwide. Its popular clients include Swiggy, Cars24, ID Fresh Food, HealthifyMe, and others. This is among one of the few companies in India that provide services for writing scripts and podcasts.

    Das Writing Services

    Das Writing Services - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Das Writing Services – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    Three motivated individuals started a business that now employs more than 50 innovative people. They guarantee the accuracy of the content and create it according to the client’s specifications. They are experts at providing proper information on schedule. They’ve carved themselves a niche with more than 700 projects completed to cater to the client’s satisfaction. Additionally, they provide free writing examples of up to 2000 words. Due to their perseverance, they have also attracted clients from outside. ICICI Prudential, Sony Live, and American Express are a few of their top customers.

    Inksplore

    Inksplore - Best Content Writing Agencies in India
    Inksplore – Best Content Writing Agencies in India

    Since its inception, Inksplore has produced over 35,000 snippets by collaborating with more than 40 writers. To produce interesting material, they regularly interact with a number of young entrepreneurs and write for a variety of genres. The agency is also known to provide services for academic writing. The Inksplore team, which includes both on-office writers and freelancers, has been working in this area for seven years. Along with complete brochure design and logo website designs, they also offer advertising alternatives.

    Conclusion

    Content writing will inevitably evolve into an infrastructure that serves both the English-speaking readership as well as speakers of indigenous languages as internationalization gains importance. These reputable content writing companies have long served as go-to places for assembling talented individuals to produce outstanding material for users of both traditional and electronic media. Thus, the above-mentioned are the best content writing agencies in India that will help you gain the best possible content for your business.

    FAQs

    Which company is best for content writing?

    The following are the best content writing companies in India:

    • Content Whale
    • Text Mercato
    • Estorytellers
    • Write Right
    • Scatter
    • Just Words

    What is SEO content writing?

    It refers to the process of writing high-quality optimized content to rank high on the first page of search engines.

    How many types of content writing are there?

    Some of the popular types of content writing are:

    • Blog writing
    • Copywriting
    • Scriptwriting
    • Email writing
    • Ghostwriting
    • Technical writing
    • Social media writing

  • Dettol Marketing Strategy | What Drove Dettol’s Success in the Indian Market?

    The saying ‘Hygiene is two-thirds of health’ holds great importance in life as hygiene is one of the most important basic human needs. Since the outbreak of covid-19, we are obliged to wash our hands regularly to prevent the spreading of the virus all around. Well, you may be thinking that using a regular soap would cleanse the germs in one wash, right? But you are wrong about it because regular soaps don’t contain any antibacterial chemicals, whereas a hand wash liquid or disinfectant gel does.

    So, to ensure this someone has to take the job of manufacturing antibacterial chemicals in products. Well, that’s Reckitt, a multinational UK-based consumer goods industry is a leading company in the manufacturing of disinfectant products all over the world. Reckitt & Sons are well-known for working towards the provision of disinfectant products for a cleaner and healthier world by launching Dettol, Harpic, Vanish, Cillit Band and Lysol, ultimately owning a net worth of around 56 Billion USD and becoming one of the world’s largest household products companies.

    Among all of these brands, Dettol showed great growth during the pandemic. However, even before the pandemic, Dettol is known to be a tried and trusted household brand for many. This is because of its great products, pricing, and most importantly its marketing strategies. No brand can flourish well in the absence of the right marketing strategies. In this article, we will go through Dettol’s marketing strategy that makes it the most trusted hygiene brand.

    Marketing Strategies of Dettol

    Unique Features of Dettol’s Marketing Strategy
    STP of Dettol
    Dettol’s Marketing Campaigns
    Dettol’s Covid-19 Marketing Strategy

    Market Growth Rate of Hand Hygiene Products in India (2018-2022)
    Market Growth Rate of Hand Hygiene Products in India (2018-2022)

    Marketing Strategies of Dettol

    Dettol is one of the most popular and trusted antiseptic and hygiene brands. Almost every household has a strong faith in this brand when it comes to hygiene. The following are the key marketing strategies of Dettol that make it a household name in the hygiene category:

    Product Strategy

    Dettol is one of the largest brands in selling & distributing antiseptic solutions in the form of Dettol Antiseptic Liquid, Soap, Hand Wash, and Dettol Surface Cleaning. One of the original products branded by Dettol is Antiseptic Liquid which is highly recommended as a first aid toolkit necessity. The brand offers various other products like hand sanitisers, shaving cream, dishwashing liquids, etc. This product strategy to provide different kinds of products on a budget under one name with the claim to kill 99.9% of germs proves to be great for Dettol’s success.

    Price Strategy

    One of the key marketing strategies of Dettol is a great pricing strategy that uses varied pricing. As I mentioned earlier, Dettol offers budget-friendly products that use the valued price method in which the customer gets the best value for the product purchased.  For instance, Dettol Anitspectic 550ML costs INR 194 and 1Liter is priced at INR 330 in India. Its pricing strategy is to offer its products in different sizes and prices to suit different categories of people.

    Promotion and Advertising Strategy

    Dettol’s Celeb TVC

    Dettol contributes a great share of its profits towards its brand promotions and advertisements. It is known to advertise its products through campaigns, radio, TV ads, print ads, and so on. The brand is known to develop a strong connection with the customers with its blogs, surveys, social media channels, and different campaigns. Dettol also indulges itself in celebrity promotions to strengthen its image among its customers.

    Selling & Distribution Strategy

    Dettol products are available in over 120 countries. The company sells its products to distributors who in turn sell them to wholesalers and retailers. In the case of bulk order, the company use a direct channel distribution strategy, by delivering the products to the customer.  

    Thus, Dettol opts for an amazing selling and distribution strategy by offering its products everywhere including local general and medical stores, malls, and also over different eCommerce platforms.

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    Unique Features of Dettol’s Marketing Strategy

    The following are some of the unique features of Dettol’s marketing strategies that make it stand out from the rest:

    Brand Equity

    Consumers perceive Dettol as authoritative as being somehow reliable and adaptable and ensuring coverage from germs, according to brand image data analysis. Dettol’s equity on bacteria safeguarding has continued to remain very potent. It’s been compared to a soldier that shields them from the dirty and unsanitary physical realm.

    When a brand is used, the user experiences a wide range of emotions. The brand conjures up favourable pictures and thoughts, from reassuring customers that their families are safe and secure and also giving mothers the satisfaction of knowing they have done everything in their power to protect their children from germs.

    BCG Matrix

    Dettol BCG Matrix
    Dettol BCG Matrix

    BCG Matrix is a growth-share matrix that is used to analyse different products of a company. The matrix divides the products into four categories. These are the star products, cash cows, dogs, and question marks. Star products indicate high growth and high market share; cash cows have low growth but high market share; dogs have low growth and a low market share; question marks have high growth but low market share.

    For Dettol, its liquid hand wash is the stars, the antiseptic liquid is its cash cows, band-aids are the dogs, and products like soap bars, shaving cream, and wipes are its question marks because of less demand among the customers.

    Competitive Analysis

    Another unique feature of Dettol’s marketing strategy is competitive analysis. Dettol can reach a broad market across multiple sectors because of its presence in several product categories and the enormous network of RB. They also dominate certain markets, such as those for antiseptic liquid and liquid hand soap, but some of their market segments, such as those for wipes, kitchen gel, and shaving cream, are performing relatively poor due to the competition from numerous local and international giants, including HUL, P&G, Dabur, and many others.

    Market Analysis

    Presently, several manufacturers’ offers can be found in the sanitation marketplace. People are becoming more environmentally conscious as wealth and education levels rise, providing these businesses with a chance to grow their target market. Keeping this in view, another unique feature of Dettol’s marketing strategy is that it always conducts market analysis to stay ahead in the race.

    Customer Analysis

    Dettol’s customer analysis allows it to consider all groups of people irrespective of age, gender, or financial status. This is because everybody does need antiseptics, and since Dettol has been on the market for many years and has performed admirably, consumers have absolute confidence in the brand.

    STP of Dettol

    Segmentation

    Dettol uses Demographic segmentation in terms of age, social status, behaviour, gender, income level, and occupation. In simple terms, any person of any age can take the advantage of Dettol products.

    Targeting

    From the young ones to the old ones, every generation contributes to the targeted customers of Dettol to increase the usage rate.

    Positioning

    Everyone looks out for hygienic products whenever they encounter the spread of any viruses. Thereby Dettol emphasis on its core brand positioning as an antiseptic which protects people from 99.9% of germs.

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    Dettol’s Marketing Campaigns

    Dettol’s Most Recent Campaigns

    Dettol has released an advertisement clip as part of the #showercool campaign that highlights the USP of its soap, Dettol Intense Cool. The company has also teamed with Rajasthan Royals, an IPL team, as its official cooling partner for IPL 2022.

    Dettol’s Viral Campaign

    Although the lockdown measures continue to relax, the Dettol campaign on individuals returning to the workplace became viral for the wrong reasons. The advertisement tries to explain parts of office life that people may be missing out on because they work from home. However, the advertisement instantly drew harsh reactions from commuters for comparing going back to work to seeing your second family. The government had been organizing a press partnership campaign to explore a range of themes related to the coronavirus response, and soon the officials clarified that there had never been a “return to work” campaign.

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    Dettol’s Covid-19 Marketing Strategy

    Dettol's Tribute to Covid-19 Warriors
    Dettol’s Tribute to Covid-19 Warriors

    Due to the resurgence in the use of sanitation and health goods, Dettol has established itself as the market leader in India’s soap sector. According to RB’s most recent statement, the company currently controls 14% of the local soap market.

    “For the first time in its history, Dettol, as a tribute to covid-19 warriors, replaced its iconic logo with an image of a Covid protector along with the ‘protector’s’ inspiring story,” the company said on the launch of ‘Dettol Salute Campaign’. This was a great marketing strategy that the brand opted for during the pandemic.

    Dettol Banega Swasth India (DBSI) also launched Swachh Bharat Swasth Bharat Yatra to create awareness regarding health and hygiene among the people by conducting nukkad nataks across the ghats of Varanasi.

    In addition to increased awareness of hygiene precautions, which has increased utilization of hygiene goods, effective and efficient supply chain administration during the crackdown assisted Dettol’s business. Dettol and other etiquette goods like Lysol and Harpic account for more than 60% of the company’s Indian sales.

    It employed the ad firm Dentsu X in January to give it more traction. To take advantage of TikTok’s viewership, RB inaugurated the Dettol India #handwashchallenge campaign in April. According to the company, the campaign received 125 billion views. Additionally, it has partnered with AIIMS to support pertinent research initiatives on cleanliness and other non-pharmaceutical things.

    Conclusion

    Dettol is one of the most popular household names when it comes to hygiene. All its marketing strategies are responsible for providing it with a competitive edge over other hygiene brands. Its product, pricing, promotions, and selling strategies are amazing and compliments its brand name. Thus, Dettol’s marketing strategy is a great combination of building a strong brand image and ensuring customer satisfaction at the same time.

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    FAQs

    Why is Dettol so successful?

    Dettol is successful because it offers a range of quality products that suits the needs of every household at affordable prices. Moreover, being a tried and tested brand, it has developed a strong trust among customers that makes people buy it over other brands.

    Who is the owner of Dettol?

    Reckitt Benckiser, one of the world’s largest household products companies is the owner of Dettol.

    What is the unique selling proposition of Dettol?

    Dettol’s unique selling proposition is the provision of germs protection in its products like the antiseptic liquid, hand wash, soaps, and shaving cream.

  • Startups Funded by Google Ventures | GV Investments

    There is almost no big company or enterprise that didn’t start from scratch. From Tesla to Apple to Pixar, most of them started off with a great idea, lots of effort, and a small garage. With every passing day, entrepreneurs come up with amazing startup ideas and newer methods to implement them. This, however, is easier said than done, since startups need both funding and support along with immense hard work in their initial days to be successful. As part of its funding program, Google has helped some of the top startups, and some of those startups have become well-known companies.

    This is where equity and venture firms come in. If they find the idea behind a startup reasonably adequate, they make the initial and much-needed investment in the startup. Blackstone and Apollo Global Management are some equity investment firms, while Google Ventures is a venture investment firm. But before knowing what startups are funded by Google, let’s find out how funding works.

    How does Startup Funding Works?
    Google Ventures
    Startups Funded by Google

    1. Slack
    2. Uber
    3. Medium
    4. StockX
    5. Stripe
    6. GitLab
    7. DocuSign
    8. Magenta Therapeutics
    9. One Medical
    10. Zipline
    11. Farmer Business Network
    12. Sense
    13. Scribble Data
    14. Jio Platforms
    15. Wysa
    16. Dailyhunt
    17. Glance

    How does Startup Funding Works?

    Apparently, there are certainly different kinds of funding based on factors such as startup valuation, its customer base, strategy, revenue model and other technical factors. These funding are categorized as follows:

    • Pre-seed Funding– This is the earliest stage of a startup, and the funding here is mostly the initial investment in the idea and is done by the founders themselves. This stage isn’t even officially included in the funding rounds, however, it is where a startup begins.
    • Seed Funding– This is where the first official investment for a business or a venture is made. Seed funding helps startups take the initial steps towards making their products. While the failed startups never go beyond this stage, the one’s that do, proceed to the Series A round.
    • Series A Funding– Once a startup or company has surpassed Seed round, has an established user base, and offers its services or products, they can opt for Series A Funding. This is where startups can use the investment money to further optimize their product, and raise anywhere from $2 million to $15 million.
    • Series B Funding– After Series A, this round helps a business to advance to the next level. If the company has justified the initial investment with a strong customer base and valuation, Series B funding helps to take the business to the next level. The investment in this round can range from $30 million to $60 million.
    • Series C Funding– The businesses which are already successful and are looking to build new products to touch newer markets are funded in this round. The companies in this round may also acquire startups and the investors and founders in this round look for exponential growth. The valuation of companies in this round can range in hundreds of millions.

    Although there can be more funding rounds corresponding to the alphabet, these are particularly the one’s where most startups reach. There is also private equity funding away from public markets in which private companies can finance startups privately.

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    Google Ventures

    Google Ventures is a venture capital investment firm of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, CEO is David Krane. Renamed to GV, the primary objective of Google Ventures since its conception has been to back founders with a vision for the future of entrepreneurship. GV has funded over 500 portfolio companies and is in constant search of new and industry-changing ideas and startups.

    GV flaunts a team of founders, physicians, and other professionals, who have been in the startup ecosystem for a long, and understand it more than most people. This team of specialists, engineers, advisors, and fund operatives help GV to solve challenges and deliver feedback to create better services. GV invests across all stages and sectors, with a focus on enterprise, life sciences, consumer, and frontier technology. GV has made 988 investments so far. Recently on July 29, 2022, GV made a $3.3 Million investment in New York-based consumer Software, Studio.

    Google Ventures on Investment in Startups

    Startups Funded by Google

    Slack

    Industry: Enterprise Software
    GV Investment: $110.8 Million

    Slacks | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    American software company Slack Technologies developed the proprietary business communication platform Slack. Slack offers a number of IRC-style features, including persistent chat rooms organized by topic, private groups, and direct messaging. Google Ventures invested $110.8M in October 2014.

    Uber

    Industry: Transportation
    GV Investment: $1.8 Billion

    Uber | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Uber | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Who in the digital world isn’t aware of the most popular cab service Uber? It has turned out to be one of the most popular cab booking services around the globe, and both cab drivers, as well as people who need them use it on a regular basis. It is a consumer service and has also set its foot in the food delivery services. Uber has offered quality, door-to-door service and continues to do so by constantly introducing safety features in its Community Guidelines. Uber has been Google Ventures’ biggest investment to date. Google Ventures has invested approximately $1.8 Billion in Uber.

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    Medium

    Industry: Digital Media
    GV Investment: $19 Million

    Medium | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Medium | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Medium is a blogging platform that suggests viewers blog through smart algorithms. World-class publications and experts publish their blogs in different niches, and viewers can choose their preferred subjects to read the latest research papers, articles, and blogs. The popularity of Medium attracted Google’s interest and they invested. Medium currently flaunts its user base of 170 million users and counting, with the writers including journalists, authors, experts, and individuals.

    StockX

    Industry: Stock Market
    GV Investment: $22 Million

    StockX | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    StocksX | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    As described by Google Ventures, StockX is the world’s first ‘Stock Market for Things’. This is an online marketplace where both buyers and sellers put forth the bidding and asking amount, and as soon as both of them meet, the transaction takes place. The marketplace that StockX offers can be used to sell any sellable product from sneakers to watches; all you need to do is sign up. Google ventures and battery ventures invested $44 M in series B funding.

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    Stripe

    Industry: Digital Payment
    GV Investment: $600 million (along with other investors)

    Stripe | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Stripe | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Stripe is one of the most popular payments processor for online transactions and in mobile applications. Today, millions of online and offline businesses from startups to bigger enterprises use Stripe as their payments processor. Be it Software as a Service, an online platform or your marketplace, Stripe can be used in all these cases either through the software or its API.

    “Stripe is the best way to accept payments online and in mobile apps.” says Google Venture.

    GitLab

    Industry: Software
    GV Investment: $20 Million

    GitLab | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    GitLab | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    GitLab is a DevOps platform that accelerates development through collaboration and automation. With various organizations relying on its source code, CI/CD, and security, GitLab offers powerful automation with real-time security and vulnerability management. Moreover, GitLab is trusted by some well-known industry-leading companies including Nvidia, Siemens, and Drupal. GitLab has received funding from Google Ventures in both Series C and Series D rounds of funding.

    DocuSign

    Industry: Software
    GV Investment: $8.1 Million

    DocuSign | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Docusign | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    A leader in eSignature transaction management, DocuSign has become an industry and global standard for eSignatures. DocuSign gained popularity with the help of Google. DocuSign has garnered a user base of over 500k customers and hundreds of millions of signers. DocuSign was introduced and established based on the fact that most modern businesses will need to go online and hence the online document management needed to be taken into consideration. Google Ventures invested in Series D round in June 2012.

    Magenta Therapeutics

    Industry: Healthcare & Life Science
    GV Investment: $8 Million

    Magenta Therapeutics | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Magenta therapeutics | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Magenta Therapeutics is a leading expert in harnessing stem cell biology for safer transplants. It endeavours to reset a patient’s immune system through stem cell transplant to cure diseases such as blood cancer. It is also developing novel medicines through commitment and excellence. Also, Magenta is revolutionizing medicine by precisely removing disease-causing cells and revamping stem cell mobilization.

    “Magenta is harnessing stem cell biology to make transplants safer and more effective for patients with immune and blood-based diseases.” Says Google Venture.

    One Medical

    Industry: Healthcare
    GV Investment: $13 Million

    One Medical | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    One Medical | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    One Medical is currently trying to reinvent healthcare with innovation and technology. As of now, One Medical offers and schedules in-person or over video appointments, 24/7 on-demand video chats with a virtual medical team, over 90 drop-in lab services, along COVID-19 testing and care. Moreover, OneMedical acts as an employee benefits partner for over 7000 companies. Google Venture invested Private Equity round of funding in December 2015.

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    Zipline

    Industry: Robotics
    GV Investment: $12 Million

    Zipline | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Zipline | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Zipline is a company that delivers life-saving medicines and drugs to remote and previously unreachable parts of the world using electric planes and drones. It makes precise, on-demand and critical deliveries, wherever and whenever needed, with safety and reliability. The access to on-demand delivery is made global, owing to Zipline, and it seeks to replace the traditional delivery system with customer-centred and cutting edge technology. Google venture Invested in Series C round of funding in May 2019. In the last funding round in June 2021, Zipline has raised a funding of $250M which made the startup valuation to be $2.5 billion.

    Farmer Business Network

    Industry: AgriTech
    GV Investment: $15 Million

    Farmers Business Network | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    farmers Business Network | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Farmer Business Network is a tool that helps farmers understand and enhance their crops and yields with advanced insights and real-time data analysis. It is a global Agritech company and seeks to help farmers reduce production costs, maximize crop yield and output, and make informed and confident decisions when it comes to crops. Farmer Business Network can help farmers manage contracts, select seeds, monitor fields, and organize operations with premium crop marketing and financial services. FBN raised a funding of $15 million in 2015 from Google Ventures. Recently, they raired $870 million in series G funding round in November 2021.

    “Farmers Business Network generates powerful insights from real-time data to help farmers understand and improve their crop performance.” says Google Venture.

    Sense

    Industry: Artificial Intelligence
    GV Investment: $16 Million

    Sense | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Sense | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Sense is an artificial intelligence-driven talent engagement and communication platform that was founded by Dharni and Pankaj Jindal in 2015. The company has its headquarters in San Francisco and is known for providing enterprise-ready solutions that provide a system of engagement for talent acquisition teams.

    Sense has so far helped many companies find, recruit, deploy talent and automate manual tasks for recruiters. The company has raised $16 million as part of its Series C round from Avataar, Google Ventures, Accel and Khosla Ventures. The company is said to use these funds to get a foothold in the Indian market, add new products, expand its team and go into newer geographies.

    Scribble Data

    Industry: Machine Learning
    GV Investment:

    Scribble Data | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Scribble Data | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Scribble data is an ML engineering product company that offers ML Feature Store for mid-market enterprise data teams.  The company is known for its flagship product known as Enrich, which is a highly customizable Machine Learning Feature. Scribble Enrich is a store product that allows data scientists to develop and manage production-ready datasets that are used to train ML models faster and with confidence.

    Data-driven companies such as Google and Amazon have invested an undisclosed amount of money into the company in May 2020. Google funding for startups such as Scribble, has helped the platform to scale and deliver Enrich in international markets for enterprise-grade Machine Learning products.

    Jio Platforms

    Industry: Telecommunication
    GV Investment: $4.5 billion

    Jio | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Jio | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Jio Platforms is an Indian technology company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company acts as a holding company for Jio (which is India’s largest and the world’s third-largest mobile network) and other digital businesses of Reliance. As of 2020, Jio platforms became the fourth largest Indian company by market capitalization.

    In November 2020, Google-funded $4.5 billion to the Jio platform, which makes it the biggest-ever investment in an Indian company. Google now reportedly holds over 7.73% share in the company. The company has now raised a total of Rs 1.52 lakh crore by selling an almost 33% stake to over 13 financial and strategic investors in under 11 weeks. This will help the company to cut down Reliance’s net debt target for the full fiscal year.

    Wysa

    Industry: Artificial Intelligence
    GV Investment:

    Wysa | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Wysa | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Wysa is an AI-enabled life coach designed especially for mental and emotional wellness. The company was initially launched in 2017 and provides its users with the ability to activate coach and chat anonymously. The company provides early intervention through 3 methods, which are an AI chatbot, a library of self-help tools, and messaging-based support from human psychologists.

    Google Ventures India, has funded an undisclosed amount in the AI Platform in May 2021. Wysa was a part of the first batch of 10 startups for Google Launchpad Accelerator India, which was held in 2018. In 2021 however, the Sleep by Wysa app was awarded the best app by the Google Play Store. According to Crunchbase, the company has so far raised $3.9 million from three funding rounds.

    Dailyhunt

    Industry: Social Media
    GV Investment: $33 Million

    Dailyhunt | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Dailyhunt | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    Dailyhunt is one of the leading Indian content and news aggregator app. The company has its headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The platform provides news in 14 Indian languages from multiple content providers to over 300 million users. In 2015, Dailyhunt became the largest Indian language distributor of e-books having 70,000 titles in ten languages.

    As of December 2020, Dailyhunt has raised over $100 million from Google, Microsoft and AlphaWave among other investors. Google funding rounds helped the company become a Unicorn as its value increased to over $1 billion. The company is planning to use the funds to scale its Josh app, which is an augmentation of local language content offerings. Google-funded startups in India with a budget of over $10 billion over a few years.

    Glance

    Industry:
    GV Investment:

    Glance | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google
    Glance | Google Ventures | Startup Funded By Google

    A google-funded startup called Glance is a startup that was founded in 2018. The company serves news, media content and games on the lock screen of more than 100 million smartphones. The company is a subsidiary of InMobi Group and is known for using AI to offer a personalized experience to its users.

    The company raised over $145 million in a new financing round from Google and existing investors like Mithril Partners. According to Google, Glance is a great example of innovation solving for mobile-first & mobile-only consumption, and providing content across many Indian languages. Google funding for startups like Glance, has helped them evolve and grow their audience.

    FAQs

    What is Google Venture (GV)?

    Google Ventures is a venture capital investment firm of Alphabet, the parent company of Google.

    Who is the CEO of GV (formerly Google Ventures)?

    David Krane is the CEO of GV.

    How many companies have Google Ventures funded?

    Google Ventures has funded more than 500 companies. Some of them are:

    • Slack
    • Uber
    • Medium
    • StockX
    • Stripe
    • GitLab
    • DocuSign
    • Magenta Therapeutics
    • Dailyhunt
    • Glance

    What are the sectors Google Ventures invest in?

    Google Ventures invests across all stages of startups and varied sectors. The major industries in which Google Ventures invests are:

    • Enterprise
    • Life sciences
    • HealthCare
    • Consumer
    • Frontier technology.

    How do startups get funded?

    Startups use various methods for funding:

    • Small Business Loans
    • Trade Equity or Services
    • Incubator or Accelerator
    • Crowdfunding.

    Who owns Google now?

    The parent organization of Google is Alphabet Inc.

    What do startups use the funding for?

    Startups raise funds for various reasons, mainly for the growth and expansion of their business.

    Who are the founders of Google?

    Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the founders of Google.

    What is the valuation of Google?

    Google has a valuation of $1.5 trillion.

  • Best Cloud Based Computing Business Ideas to Look For

    Cloud computing is a way of accessing compute and storage systems without actually owning and doing active management of the resources. Cloud computing services include a wide range of categories right from storage and networking up to the use of AI. Cloud computing is emerging as the new basics for developing new applications.

    There are three main types of cloud computing:

    • Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – It hosts the infrastructure on the public cloud and private cloud instead of in a traditional on-premises data center.
    • Software as a Service(SaaS) – It is a way of delivering applications over the internet as a service. Instead of installing and maintaining software you simply access it via the internet.
    • Platform as a Service(PaaS) – It is a cloud computing model where a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools to users over the internet.

    Cloud computing is still an emerging industry. Due to heavy demand, there are various cloud service providers like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, IBM Cloud, Oracle, SAP, VM Ware, etc. which are competing with each other in the market.

    Create Cloud-Based Presentation Software
    Start a Cloud-Based Application Development Service
    Start a Cloud-Based Telecommunications Service
    Start a Cloud Monitoring Service
    Create a Cloud Printing Technology
    Start a Cloud Real Estate Business
    Start a Cloud Security Firm
    Set up a Cloud Marketing Business
    Start a Cloud Software Engineering Service
    Start a Cloud Automation Engineering Service
    Become a Cloud File Hosting Service Provider
    Future of Cloud Computing

    Create Cloud-Based Presentation Software

    Visme- An example of cloud-based online presentation software
    Visme- An example of cloud-based online presentation software

    Online presentation software is a cloud-based platform where you can log in and create a presentation in the cloud. Presentation software is a desktop or cloud-based application that allows the user to present information to an audience using a sequence of multimedia formats such as images, video, audio, and text.

    Online presentation software has unlimited file sizes, easy sharing, and advanced analytics. Some of the best presentation software tools for creativity are Visme, Slidebean, Vyond, Haiku Deck, Prezi, Google Slides, Apple Keynote, Slides, ZohoShow, Custom Show, etc.

    Features Of Cloud Computing
    Features Of Cloud Computing

    Start a Cloud-Based Application Development Service

    A cloud application or cloud app stands for the application or program which involves the internet as the center of the application for a few uses. In simple words, Cloud computing-based applications are that application who runs on the internet or are dependent on the internet for storage purpose while user interference is done by the use of API.

    Cloud-based applications are increasing day by day to numerous advantages offered to them such as no need for any external storage device, quite cheaper than other products, and many other advantages.

    However, cloud-based application developers can easily create a cloud-based application by the use of a data and processing unit. But they should keep a few things in check while working on the application development such as speed and security of the network, proper architecture of the platform, etc.

    Cloud App market size in us billion dollar for years 2015-2022
    Cloud App market size in us billion dollar for years 2015-2022 

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    Start a Cloud-Based Telecommunications Service

    Most telecom providers are heavily dependent on large computing infrastructure. Using the cloud can reduce internal computing resource needs and release excess use by paying customers.

    Cloud communications providers deliver voice and data. Cloud communications stand for the meaning of the communication taken place by the means of the cloud or internet. Telecommunication takes place with the use of the internet but has the involvement of any third-party-made applications. The best example of cloud-based telecommunication services is a call center.

    Cloud communications providers do these things:

    • Deliver voice and data communications applications and services
    • Hosting them on servers that the providers own and maintain
    • Giving their customers access to the ‘cloud’

    Start a Cloud Monitoring Service

    Amazon CloudWatch- An example of cloud-based monitoring service
    Amazon CloudWatch- An example of cloud-based monitoring service

    Cloud monitoring stands for the reviewing process that controls the operational workflow to evaluate and monitor the activities happening within a cloud infrastructure. This process is mainly used to prevent the presence of any security gap in the cloud infrastructure and to avoid any security attack in advance.

    Types of cloud services to monitor:

    There are multiple types of cloud services to monitor. Cloud monitoring is not just about monitoring servers hosted on AWS or Azure.

    • SaaS – Services like Office 365, Salesforce, and others.
    • PaaS – Developer-friendly services like SQL databases, caching, storage, and more.
    • IaaS – Servers hosted by cloud providers like Azure, AWS, Digital Ocean, and others.
    • FaaS – New serverless applications like AWS Lambda and Azure Functions.
    • Application Hosting – Services like Azure App Services, Heroku, etc.

    How Cloud Monitoring Works

    The cloud has several moving elements, and it’s crucial to make sure that everything works in perfect sync to optimize performance. Cloud monitoring primarily includes the following:

    • VM Monitoring: Monitoring the virtual machines (instances) created on the cloud.
    • Web Pages Monitoring: Monitoring the traffic, processes, resource utilization, and availability of cloud-hosted websites.
    • Database Monitoring: Monitoring different components of cloud database resources such as processes, queries, availability, and consumption.
    • Storage Monitoring: Monitoring storage resources on the cloud and tracking resource utilization.
    • Virtual Network Monitoring: Tracking virtual network resources, connections, devices, and performance.
    • Application Monitoring: Proactively monitoring the availability & performance of critical applications deployed on the cloud whether it is on AWS or Microsoft Azure.

    Create a Cloud Printing Technology

    As the popularity of cloud services is expanding now the cloud is used in printing. Cloud printing can be described as the use of cloud computing technology to print a document. It can be understood as a network of few devices all connected by the cloud. This collection of devices can also be directly or indirectly connected with the printing stations making them all interconnected.

    The prime advantage of using cloud printing technology is that it eliminates the need of having a separate printer. Other advantages of having a cloud-based printing technology include low cost, positive for the environment, use of advanced technologies, etc.

    Cloud printing technology can be created by the use of on-the-shelf applications and a server or one can also get their application made for the same purpose. Cloud printing technology is in great demand nowadays because of more working hours and less time to use on these simple tasks.

    Start a Cloud Real Estate Business

    HubSpot CRM- An example of cloud-based real estate service provider
    HubSpot CRM- An example of cloud-based real estate service provider

    80% of the top real estate performers are using some form of cloud. The real estate industry, like many other sectors, is making its way into the cloud. This transformation impacts how both residential and commercial properties are listed, searched, photographed, discovered by potential owners, and sold.

    Benefits of cloud real estate business include less operational cost, faster work, increased data security, and consistency in the workflow, and all of these factors lead to the better business output. Real estate business can easily be shifted to the cloud if we consider the fact that the majority of the work dealing with real estate business is done by mobile and out of the office space.

    Real estate business on the cloud can easily be developed by the use of some applications which fall true to the requirements and all can be managed effortlessly. One example of a real estate business based on cloud computing is Hubspot CRM.

    Start a Cloud Security Firm

    HyTrust- An example of cloud-based security firm
    HyTrust- An example of cloud-based security firm

    Cloud Security or Cloud Computing Security means nothing but protecting the cloud data or information from hacking, deletion, any online theft, leakage, etc. Cloud Security is offered through a group of applications, firewalls, policies, VPN controls, technologies, little software-based tools, etc. Cloud Security is a part of the network or computer security.

    Cloud security means the company is responsible for the protection of the data and processes involving the cloud network. They prevent the information from being stolen or leakage. Cloud security can be offered in the name of software or tools like firewalls, policies, VPNs, etc.

    Cloud security is a part of computer security. There different organizations helping in the reduction of the risk and improving security are cloud access security brokers (CASB), software-defined computes (SDC) security, cloud workload protection platforms, and SaaS security.

    The cloud security firm is responsible to introduce tools that help out in the security of the cloud network or the multinational networks. The best example of a cloud-based security business firm is HyTrust.

    Set up a Cloud Marketing Business

    Marketing is the base for every business to perform better. Different types of marketing are available in the market. One of them is cloud-based marketing.

    Cloud-based marketing is nothing complicated, instead, it stands for the marketing of a product by the means of digitalization tools and services on the internet. Cloud marketing is evolving due to more online-based customers target.

    Uses of cloud computing in marketing are Cloud ERP, marketing automation, Inbound marketing, lead tracking, and sales cycle management. One can easily set up their cloud marketing business by understanding new tactics used in digital marketing.

    Start a Cloud Software Engineering Service

    Cloud software is the solution that comes to mind for organizations to fulfill their interest driven by the desire to significantly improve their businesses and have the ability to understand IT for an affordable cost. Service-oriented software engineering helps in the identification of the best features involved in both the services as well as cloud computing paradigms.

    It offers multiple advantages in the favor of software development and application development. The benefits of cloud computing for software development are scalability, cost-efficiency, redundancy, quick resources, wide geographic reach, easy deployment, etc. One can easily get into the field of cloud software engineering services with the knowledge and proper plan.

    Start a Cloud Automation Engineering Service

    A cloud automation engineer is a challenging role for any IT professional because of the varied requirements. They are the one who creates and maintains the cloud software that allows the easy functioning of the cloud.

    Even though it is a great business idea to step up as a cloud automation engineer, one needs to be knowledgeable enough to accomplish this task. Cloud automation engineering services need to be seamless while using them. And to ensure this, a cloud automation engineer is given up the task of many complex things.

    They are responsible for the whole coding and scripting of the software while giving out their updates on time and performing maintenance checks as per the schedules. They also work to get the service automated to avoid any downtime in their work pattern.

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    Cloud platforms aren’t an option but they are a must for all the business. Here’s a guide on how to choose the right cloud platform for your needs.
    StartupTalkyShubham Kumar

    Become a Cloud File Hosting Service Provider

    Google Drive- An example of cloud-based file hosting service provider
    Google Drive- An example of cloud-based file hosting service provider

    Cloud Service providers are vendors that provide Information Technology (IT) as a service over the Internet. Cloud computing companies’ services range from full application development platforms to servers, storage, and virtual desktops.

    With the introduction of cloud hosting, the hosting industry has seen a significant change in providing solutions. Now they provide services with much reliability and resilience for the customers. Cloud storage means storing data in a remote location that is accessible from any device.

    Having the business of a cloud file hosting service provider is tricky yet demanding in the market. If started with a proper plan and tools, it can prove to be a life-changing decision.

    Future of Cloud Computing

    Future of Cloud Computing
    Future of Cloud Computing 

    Cloud computing might seem like something unusual or tricky concept. However, in the upcoming future, it will form the base of almost every business. Cloud computing provides the solutions for business owners that they are exactly looking forward to embracing.

    Hence, undoubtedly cloud computing will emerge as a new norm in the IT industry and it will continue to grow with many new modifications taking place in it. Some of the advantages of cloud computing for business are Increase Storage Capacity, Enhanced Performance of the Internet, Modular Software Will Be a Priority, Data Shows How Future Changes, Security, Economic savings, etc.

    Conclusion

    Cloud computing means accessing a network to store, manage, and process the data without actually owning the network or any hardware storage system. Cloud computing businesses are one of the prime emerging fields in present fields.

    There are a number of ways one can start cloud computing businesses. Cloud computing business can also fall into the wide categories of printing, security, marketing, real estate, etc. Some of the best cloud computing business ideas have been shared in the above context.

    FAQs

    What business can I start with cloud computing?

    Cloud computing can help the person to create their own business falling in the category of Healthcare, Remote working, education, fitness, etc. Some of the most famous examples of cloud computing are Dropbox, Gmail, Amazon web series, etc.

    Is cloud computing a good business?

    The cloud computing business depends upon the cloud server and saves the owner the work of setting up a physical store. The biggest advantage of having a cloud computing business is to have a chance of reselling the cloud server if something goes wrong in business and cloud computing businesses are the new emerging type of business nowadays. All this proves that cloud computing is a good business.

    What is a cloud computing business?

    Cloud computing business refers to the service that uses the internet as its central part. The business made up with the help of cloud computing technology to provide services is counted as a cloud computing business.

    How do I start a cloud computing business?

    Cloud computing business can easily be started out but with a few steps to follow such as selecting the cloud as per the need, registering for the cloud, searching for a similar company, creating your marketing plan, purchasing required things, having a physical office space fixed, improvise the plan with time and the cloud computing business is ready to face the market.

  • Is AI Going to Take Over the Creative Jobs Too?

    Artificial Intelligence or AI is the ability of machines to perform certain tasks that typically require human intelligence. It allows the machines to understand and achieve specific goals. Simplistically, machines learn, automatically, from existing data without being assisted by human beings.

    When machines are able to absorb huge amounts of unstructured data such as text, images and audio, it is called deep learning. There are four types of Artificial Intelligence –

    • Reactive Machines
    • Limited Memory
    • Theory of Mind
    • Self- Awareness

    Human beings, today, are surrounded by examples of Artificial Intelligence and that way it has permeated our day-to-day existence.

    • Siri, Alexa and other smart assistants
    • Self-driving cars
    • Robo-advisors
    • Conversational bots
    • Smart Email Apps
    • Search and Recommend Algorithms
    • E-Payments
    • OTT recommendations
    • Social Media
    • Music Streaming Services
    • Google Maps and Navigation
    • Text Editors and Autocorrect

    Future Uses of AI
    AI vs. Human Creativity – Can AI Take Over Creative Jobs?

    Future Uses of AI

    AI is advancing at a break-neck speed, similar to the exponential growth witnessed by database technology in the late twentieth century. The importance of data has been amplified by AI’s large appetite to store, retain and analyse data.

    ‘Metaverse’ was a term that was first heard in the 1992 science fiction novel ‘Snow Crash’. At that time, it was considered too futuristic and a concept of science fiction. Yet, less than 30 years later, it is on the verge of becoming a reality.

    The metaverse is a single, universal and immersive virtual world.  In simple words, it is an alternate universe facilitated by virtual reality and augmented reality.

    There are existing uses of a metaverse in the gaming industry.  This could very well leap into the everyday world.  Be it conferences, meetings, weddings or parties, the metaverse can host it all.  The possibilities of its uses are endless.

    AI vs. Human Creativity – Can AI Take Over Creative Jobs?

    Human beings are trying to achieve a system that emulates our intelligence. Achieving this requires a starting point. What is that starting point? A massive amount of data.

    If we want a computer to tell us the difference between a tiger and a lion, we have to first feed it with thousands of images of tigers and lions. However, human intelligence is a multi-faceted tool.  

    A tool with the ability to make decisions, create, learn, evolve, draw inspiration from a lifetime of experiences, feel, empathize, think differently and, essentially, be a square peg in a round hole.

    “Our intelligence is what makes us human, and AI is an extension of that quality.”
    ― Yann LeCun

    Creativity

    Albert Einstein says  – “Creativity is seeing what everyone else saw, and thinking what no one else thought”.

    The best example of this is probably, the advertising industry.  This industry has, possibly, made the best use of AI. It has created award-winning campaigns. ‘The Next Rembrandt’ is a perfect example of how AI can be utilized optimally to understand the Dutch Master’s painting style, his use of colour, lights, his subject interest, etc. All this data can then be used to produce a modern painting emulating his style.

    Yet, machines can never know, if Rembrandt himself would have evolved or if he might have shifted his interest towards another style of painting or subject.

    Empathy

    Empathy is the understanding of the problems and realities of the people and then designing the best product based on that understanding. AI can collect and collate data, but can never show the true nature of what drives human beings.  Data can show an individual’s activity spanning days or months, but cannot answer the ‘why’ of those activities.  

    It is this particular human quality that separates us from AI. It is this quality that allows humans to design and create products with a deeper informed decision.

    Mind Theory

    Human psychology is a web of emotions that affect thought and behaviour. For AI to replace creativity, it would need the capability to comprehend human complexities and make decisions based on self-reflection. Currently, this is beyond the AI technological brilliance.

    Conclusion

    The superior intellect of human beings has led to the invention of Artificial Intelligence. Yet, it is a system that is based on rules and algorithms and built-in data. It is a system that relies on those very rules and algorithms to process the data that has been fed to it. Can it collate, relate and process data faster than human beings? Without a doubt. Can it scale imaginative heights and then further push its limits? No.

    Human beings are not only gifted with intelligence but a natural curiosity to expand and grow. Continually push limits. Consistently evolve. AI is a tool that has been created to assist in our journey towards that excellence. Nothing more, nothing less. AI is a convenience that we created so we may continue to excel at our own imaginative brilliance.

    FAQs

    What jobs will AI take over?

    Customer service executives, Bookkeeping and data entry, Proofreading, Manufacturing and pharmaceutical work, Retail Services, and Courier services.

    What jobs will AI not take over?

    Human resource managers, Writers, Lawyers, Psychiatrists, and Event planners are some of the jobs AI will not take over in of near future.

  • Times of India – How Does One of the Oldest English Language Newspaper of India Make Money?

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the Times of India.

    Many years ago, there was no broadcast facility that happened to land directly at people’s homes. All the news or information was passed down from word of mouth during that time.

    It’s quite interesting to imagine how people used to live without newspapers before it even was invented. Thanks to the political and economic chronology of India led to the development of newspapers. Furthermore, the consequences of globalisation and modernisation in the world are what pushed the need for printing news.

    We can still see newspaper’s importance and dominance in homes today with our older generation hooked on reading the newspapers. From discussing the type of advertisements on our mini tables at home to becoming a part of hot discussion till late at night, newspapers remain an integral part of our lives and society at large.

    As a matter of fact, newspapers have also evolved through these years with the quality of writing, type of news and articles being published and also digitising and the platform where they publish or more commonly known as e-newspapers.

    We have seen or read this newspaper since we were born, ‘The Times of India’, which is the second-oldest newspaper in India, and the largest English language selling daily newspaper in the world. That’s quite the achievement the newspaper has maintained till now.

    The Times of India also goes by the abbreviation TOI and is owned and managed by the Times Group. TOI came into existence with its first publication in 1838 making it the oldest English language newspaper in India. It is said that the TOI is given an alternative name called ‘The Old Lady of Bori Bunder’, for being the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation.

    If newspapers and media are one of your areas of interest, here’s more about the Times of India, how it started and what led to its growth, the key people involved and about its owner, ‘The Times Group’, business and revenue model, challenges faced, competitors, funding and investments, and much more in this article.

    Times of India – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Times of India
    Headquarters New Delhi, India
    Sector Mass media, daily newspaper
    Owner The Times Group
    Founded 1838
    Revenue Rs76.8 crore
    Total Funding Raised $17 million
    Website timesofindia.indiatimes.com

    About Times of India
    Times of India – Industry
    Times of India – Key People
    Times of India – Name, Logo, and Tagline
    Times of India – Startup Story
    Times of India – Business and Revenue Model
    Times of India – Funding and Investors
    Times of India – Mergers and Acquisitions
    Times of India – Competitors
    Times of India – Advertisements and Social Media Campaigns
    Times of India – Future Plans

    About Times of India

    Founded in 1838, the Times of India is an English Language daily newspaper and digital news in India. The newspaper publishes various news happening around the world, and articles on the latest issues written by prominent writers in the industry.

    Times of India is owned by the ‘The Times Group. The Times Group is the trade name of the company, Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (B.C.C.L), which is owned by the Sahu Jain Family. With headquarters in Mumbai, Times Group is a multi-media company with products like publishing, broadcasting, radio, films, entertainment, and so on.

    TOI claims that every day, one of its 13 editions is read by more than 13.5 million readers. As of 2019, 2,880,144 daily newspapers were circulated as per reports.

    The owner of TOI, The Times Group, which includes this business along with its other subsidiaries, also publishes the following publications: Ahmedabad Mirror, Bangalore Mirror, Mumbai Mirror, and Pune Mirror; Economic Times; ET Panache (Monday through Friday in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore; Saturday in Pune and Chennai); Ei Samay Sangbadpatra, a Bengali daily; Maharashtra Times, a Marathi daily; Navbharat Times (a Hindi daily)

    Times of India – Industry

    Belonging to the media and printing press industry, the Times of India has put itself at the highest rank for selling the English Language daily newspaper in the world.

    Today, Indian print media is also dominating alongside digital and television media. According to reports, it is recorded that the Indian newspaper revenue touched Rs 220.5 billion in 2021. At this rate, it is assumed that the growth of the print media industry is only going to go upwards.

    Times of India – Key People

    Times of India, which is managed by the Times Group is directed by Samir Jain, who is the Vice-Chairman of the company.

    Samir Jain

    Samir Jain is the Vice-Chairman of the Times Group which manages ‘The Times of India’. He is an Arts graduate from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. Samir Jain’s parents are Ashok Kumar and Indu Jain. His mother Indu Jain became the Chairperson of Times Group after her husband, Ashok Kumar died.

    It was in 1975 when Samir decided to join the family-owned business and started working as a junior executive at the media group Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

    It was because of his leadership skills, that the Times of India regained its potential and made it the world’s largest circulating English newspaper.

    Times of India – Name, Logo, and Tagline

    The tagline of Times of India, “Let the Truth Prevail” rightly defines the company’s idea about telling stories and giving out information to its readers.

    As you can see the logo of the Times of India has two elephants facing each other with a shield in the middle of them. The shield has the petals of a lotus flower and leaves and below them are three sailing ships placed in an inverted triangular shape.

    Since TOI originally began as the Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce during the British Raj, Britishers were inspired by the elephants, which are carved at the Ajanta Caves. They wanted to target the Indian audience, which is why they used elephants as they play a very important role in the Indian culture.

    Times of India – Startup Story

    Started as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce

    The history of TOI begins 183 years ago as ‘The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce‘ under the leadership of Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath Velkar. He was a Maharashtrian social reformer, who collected news from the world, as well as the Indian Subcontinent and Britain.

    TOI’s first-ever editor was J. E. Brennan. After a few years, Robert Knight, who was an English editor and a critic of the British empire acquired the Indian stockholders’ shares in 1860, merged his publication with his competitor Bombay Standard, and founded India’s first news organisation – Bombay Times and Standard.

    After a year, The Bombay Times and Standard were once more united with the Bombay Telegraph & Courier, and it was given the new name The Times of India. That’s how where it began for the ‘TOI’ daily newspaper.

    With many struggles, Robert elevated the newspaper to a position of importance across the country by fighting for the freedom of the press against government restrictions. The newspaper gained a lot of appreciation and was widely read in India and Europe. The newspaper employed approximately 800 employees and produced 3000 copies per day in 1890.

    Under Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd

    After gaining so much importance, TOI was acquired by Thomas Bennett and Frank Morris Coleman. They started through their joint-stock company Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. During this ownership, Sir Stanley Reed served as The Times of India’s editor from 1907 to 1924, and played a significant figure in Indian media in early 20th-century Indian journalism.

    Post-Independence TOI’s ownership went to Dalmia

    The Times of India (TOI) was acquired by Ramkrishna Dalmia of the illustrious industrial Dalmia family after India gained independence from British rule. The deal was closed at ₹20 million, which equals ₹2.4 billion or US$30 million in 2020.

    Ten years later, it was found that Ramkrishna Dalmia was caught in legal complications surrounding the acquisition that led to a conviction following which he gave his son-in-law Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain administration of the company.

    TOI ownership was, again and again, being transferred due to wrong leadership which happened with Sahu Jain as well.

    Government of India’s involvement

    A new board of directors was established under the government in 1969 on the authority of the Bombay High Court as a result of numerous misdeeds and business abnormalities. The government finally returned ownership of the newspaper to Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain’s son Ashok Kumar Jain in 1976, during India’s Emergency.

    After going through a series of misfortunes, it was finally like a new dawn for TOI in the 21st century. The Times Group expanded with new publications aimed toward a contemporary readership.

    The Economic Times and Maharashtra Times began publishing in the 1960s, while The Navbharat Times was established in 1946. The Vijay Karnataka daily was founded in 2006 when Vijayanand Printers Limited was acquired.

    Bangalore Mirror debuted in 2007, and Mumbai Mirror did so in 2005. The Bengali daily Ei Samay was first published in 2012, while the Gujarati-focused Nav Gujarat Samay started publishing in 2014.

    Times of India – Business and Revenue Model

    A newspaper’s development story is inextricably linked to its advertisements. Ever since its inception, TOI earned its money through subscribers and advertisers. The business model of the Times of India is to print news and sell it to the consumers and other is by advertising. It can be safe to say, the TOI business model is Direct-to-Consumer and Business-to-Business.

    Early advertisements targeted the upper class, but as time went on, TOI became to represent the average person, and advertisers began to use the company’s advertising services to connect with their target demographic. With editions available throughout India, advertising in the Times of India has become one of the most successful forms of advertising for both private individuals and corporations.

    Today, TOI continues to advertise on its digital platforms as well. The company earns a big chunk of revenue from advertising agencies.

    In the fiscal year 2019, the company reported a revenue of Rs ₹6,986 crores. However, in 2020, the company declared a loss of net income of ₹451.63 crores for the fiscal year.

    Times of India – Funding and Investors

    Over the course of two rounds, The Times Of India secured $17M in fundraising. Their most recent funding came from a Venture-Series Unknown round, which was raised in 2006.

    Here’s the list of investors of the Times of India.

    Date Funding Round Amount Investors
    June 29, 2006 Venture Round $10 million Sequoia Capital
    September 29, 2004 Series A $7 million Sequoia Capital India

    Times of India – Mergers and Acquisitions

    In their entire journey of doing business, The Times Of India has acquired two organizations.

    IS Integration was their most recent acquisition, made on 20 September 2006. For $37M, they bought IS Integration. The other one is KeyLabs, which the company acquired on the 25th of April, 2005.

    Times of India – Competitors

    Here’s the list of top competitors of Times of India:

    1. The Hindu
    2. The Hindustan Times
    3. Deccan Chronicle
    4. Verse
    5. Dainik Bhaskar Group
    6. One India
    7. The Indian Express
    8. Tribune Papers
    9. HT Media

    Times of India – Social Media Presence

    Having been in the media industry, TOI has not left the social media space for increasing its brand awareness and spreading information through digital mediums. To follow the company’s latest updates and interesting news, you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

    Times of India – Advertisements and Social Media Campaigns

    Times of India has played a crucial part when it comes to advertising and running campaigns. While there are several campaigns organised by the company, it ran a social media campaign called the #WantMyPaper campaign in 2020 that highlights the importance of newspapers in today’s times.

    The ‘Want My Paper’ campaign launched by the company aimed at Indians to make them realise the importance of the authenticity of daily newspapers. They emphasised through the campaign how crucial it is for media outlets to support the establishment of accountability through sharp reporting.

    Newspapers, unlike digital media, do not restrict people’s access to news categories by applying filters, but instead, they put daily information from a variety of genres directly in the hands of the readers, giving them the chance to be notified without unnatural and fake barriers.

    Here’s what Sanjeev Bhargava, Director of the Times of India said, “Newspapers are the guardians of democracy – they keep the public well informed about the important goings-on, and help shape public opinion on key ongoing issues of national interest. With growing scientific evidence that newspapers are safe, and that there’s really no risk of catching an infection from them, our #WantMyPaper campaign is aimed at nudging our ardent readers about what they’re missing out without their trusted newspaper in their hands.”

    Times of India – Future Plans

    As of now, it is hard to say what the Times of India is planning for the future. The company is the third-largest English Language selling newspaper in India in terms of circulation. After serving the nation for 180 years with the latest news, the company claims itself as still young and energetic, and not as an old and outdated company.

    FAQs

    When was Times of India founded?

    Times of India was founded on 3 November 1838.

    Who founded the Times of India?

    Ramkrishna Dalmia, an industrialist founded the Times of India.